


the truth hurts worse than anything i could bring myself to do

by swanmills



Series: Swan Queen Week 2015 [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/F, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:45:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4341869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanmills/pseuds/swanmills
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for swan queen week day 3: time travel.</p>
<p>Emma takes up her brother's time hopping business and hires a babysitter to watch Henry. Regina ends up being more of a nurse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the truth hurts worse than anything i could bring myself to do

Emma put the scruffy and patched hat atop her head. It was slightly large on her, as it was her brother’s before, and he had more of a build than she did. She also put on his coat, which hung loosely around her. She was sure after a few trips, though, that the magic sewn into the clothes would start to fit to her form.

“Henry?” she called out.

Her 11 year old son appeared from what seemed to be out of nowhere. He scrambled to his mother, his shaggy brown hair almost reaching his bright eyes. “Yeah, Ma?” He saw her new attire, and his eyebrows bunched together in curiosity. “Why are you wearing Uncle Jefferson’s clothes?”

Emma tried not to tear up as she told her son the news. “Uncle Jefferson is gone.”

Henry did not try to hide his tears as he sniffled. “Like, dead gone?”

Emma nodded. “Dead gone.”

Henry started to piece it together. His uncle was gone, and his mother was wearing the time hatter’s outfit. “No, Ma!” he cried. “You can’t take over the hopper business!”

“I have to!” Emma did the last button on the coat. It was started to feel a bit smaller already. “It was how we got food on the table. With Jefferson… gone,” (she choked, he had been the only family she had for the first 16 years of her life, and he had been killed), “someone has to fill his shoes.”

“You have a job…” Henry messily wiped the tears from his cheeks.

“A waitress is not enough to support you and me, kid. I’ll keep the job as a ruse, but I’ll need to make more money.” Emma sighed. “I’ve gotten you a babysitter. Her name is Regina. Do you think you can be nice to her?”

“I guess,” Henry mumbled. “I’m going back to my room.” He shuffled across the apartment living room to his bedroom, his socks dragging across the carpeting.

 

Three days later, when Emma was about to set off on her first job (and after wearing the suit in a few times it’s finally fit her), she was tying her shoes when the doorbell rang. Quickly combining her last bunny ears, she raced to the door. Henry was on the couch, watching something on television, and she opened the door to see a young lady on the other side.

“Hi,” the stranger said. “I’m Regina Mills. The babysitter?” Her hair just touched her shoulders, and it was wavy and such a dark brown it was better to call it black. Her eyes were a slightly lighter shade, and she had a small scar that adorned her upper lip.

Emma blinked, getting out of her thoughts. “Yeah, of course! Thank you so much.” She walked over to the coffee table where her wallet was resting to get Regina’s pay out but Regina stopped her.

“No, Miss Swan, you can pay me when you get back,” Regina said. She held up the strap to her tote bag, which was slung over her shoulder. “As long as I can do some schoolwork? I’m not trying to take away attention from Henry, I promise, but maybe when he’s taking a nap,” (“I’m too big to take naps” was muttered), “or when he goes to bed, I could do it? I’m in pre med.”

“Oh!” Emma tossed her hand in the air nonchalantly. “It’s no big deal. Henry will probably spend most of the day watching television or reading anyway.” She took her wallet. “You sure you don’t want at least half pay?”

“I’m fine.” Regina gave Emma a sweet smile. Emma instinctively returned it.

“Again, thank you so much. This is going to be about a weekly thing, as we discussed several days ago.” She went to the door. “I’ll be going, now. Bye, kid!”

“Bye, Mom,” said Henry, his eyes sad, but still glued to the television, and his shoulders tense, as if he was scared to see his mother leaving. Emma frowned, knowing Henry felt terrible about this, but it was what had to be done. She shut the door and was on her way.

Her older brother Jefferson had been a time hopper. It was an extremely dangerous job. Many things were hidden in small pockets of time. Artifacts, money, even people. People hired time hoppers to go through time and get ahold of the item, and sometimes it took a while and a few punches to receive it. As long as the time hopper had an estimation of the year and location they needed to travel to, it was usually doable. But it was also illegal.

Time hopping has been illegal for almost half a century now. A combination of how time hopping affected time and the fact that time travel costed a lot of magical energy, which was extremely addictive when used incorrectly, caused the Senate to ban it; which was why the job was so lucrative. And it was why Emma had to do it.

Each time hopper had a contraption that, while seemed normal, was the piece of equipment that allowed them to travel through time.

For Emma's dead brother, it had been his ratty, old hat.

Emma missed Jefferson. She really did. She also knew that he wouldn't allow her to mourn his loss; therefore, she took up the business he had left behind. His death had been from an illness of his magic addiction, something that rots you from the inside out; he knew he was dead months before he died. He knew it was his fault. He had given Emma information on all of his clients before he had passed.

When she found a deserted area in the dense forest, Emma took off the hat and laid it on the ground. She took the needed ingredients from the bottomless pockets that were stitched onto her coat and then poured them into the hat, spinning it; it was time for Emma to get to work. No pun intended.

 

\---

 

Emma crashed back into the bunches of leaves and twigs that scattered the forest as she was thrust back into the present time. She had been in Misthaven in the 17th century for a few days, and it had definitely been a piece of work. She wanted to go home to her apartment and hug her toilet.

She hurried back to her apartment, back aching and eye throbbing from the bar fight right before she left, when she got to her apartment, she got out her key. Slowly turning it, she opened the door to see the living room light on, with Regina typing on her computer. She had a pair of glasses perched on her nose, and she was surprised to see Emma come in.

"Hey," Emma greeted, her voice hoarse.

"Miss Swan?" Regina asked, shutting her laptop and getting up. "Are you okay? It's three in the morning."

"You can call me Emma, you know," Emma said, pulling her wallet out of her pocket. She ignored the second half of Regina's questions as she continued, pulling several bills out of her wallet and handing them to Regina. "There's your full pay. Will you be open next Thursday?"

"Is that a black eye?" Regina instinctively came up to touch Emma's bruised cheekbone.

"Ah!" hissed Emma, withdrawing from Regina's stinging touch.

"Oh my gods!" Regina gasped. "I have a first aid kit in my bag. Sit down on the couch. I'll be getting some ice from the fridge."

"You don't have to do that," said Emma. "You're just the babysitter. I can take care of this myself."

Regina slipped some ice cubes into a ziplock bag and shook her head. "Pre med, remember? I might as well get some practice."

Emma sat on her couch, sighing. "I don't think you take pre med to heal small cuts and a bruised eye."

Regina rolled her eyes, sitting down on the couch next to Emma. "Shut up and let me help you."

 

 

Over the next few months, Emma took the odd hours of being a time hopper and the injuries it came with, while coming home in the middle of the night. Regina had no problem with attending to Emma's wounds, even at Emma's protests.

On one particular nasty night, Emma rushed into the apartment, breathing heavily as she clutched her arm. She had been about a century in the past, trying to get a fist-sized jewel, and she had almost gotten run over by a carriage that had been racing past on the dirt road. It was almost four in the morning when Emma burst into living room. As usual, Regina was working on something school related.

"Regina," Emma grit through her teeth, but managing a wavering smile. "It's almost like you wait for me."

Regina saw Emma's condition and ran to her. "Gods be damned, Emma!" she whispered, anguished. "Why can't you go to a hospital?"

"I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't!"

"I just can't!" Emma repeated, her voice filled with desperation. "Now can you fix this or not?"

"Have I ever said no?" Regina sighed. "First, I'll need you to take off your coat.  And I'll get this." She took off Emma's hat and set it on the coffee table. "I'm going to get something for you to bite down on."

Emma nodded, pain in her expression, and after a few grunts and hisses, her coat was on the floor. She’d pick it up later.

Regina came back with a washcloth. “Bite into this,” Regina instructed. “This is gonna hurt.” She gingerly put the rolled up cloth in Emma’s mouth, and she bit down on it, her eyes pinched shut.

Regina sat down beside Emma, grasping her arm (and ignoring the rippling muscles underneath because _who paid attention to someone’s muscles when their shoulder was dislocated gods Regina get it together_ ) and slowly unwrapping Emma’s grip from it. Taking a hold of her shoulder, Regina popped it back into place as swiftly as she could.

Emma yelled through the washcloth in her mouth, but a quick look a relief came on her face. She took the washcloth out of her mouth. “Thank you, Regina.”

Regina shrugged, getting up. Emma took advantage of it and laid across the couch.. “It’s not a problem.”

Emma sighed, her bones screaming in exhaustion. “It is,” she murmured, “You don’t even know what I do.”

Regina snorted. “Henry told me you were a time hopper five minutes after you left that first day.”

A small look of anger crossed Emma’s face for a few moments. “That little shit.”

“Are you gonna fall asleep on the couch? I can get you a blanket.”  Regina looked at Emma, who was practically the embodiment of tired.

“You don’t care that I’m a time hopper?” Emma asked, ignoring the question. “You still like me?”

“Of course I like you.” Regina picked up Emma’s discarded coat and put it on the hooks near the door next to her hat. “I always have,”

“Hmmmm,” said Emma, and then she was knocked out.

Regina gave a breathy laugh, half to herself, as she grabbed one of the several blankets in the hall closet and laid it on top of Emma. She gave her a peck to the forehead.

“Sweet dreams,” she whispered, and Emma sighed.

“Mmkay,” she mumbled, and it was barely audible, but Regina heard it. A small part of her wondered if Emma had also felt the kiss. She sighed. That could be dealt with next week, when Emma’s job meant her inevitable babysitting/nursing duty.

She quickly left after setting a glass of water and an aspirin on the table next to Emma.

 

 


End file.
